Pensacola: White Sand and Waves
from WorldWeb.com Travel Guide

	White sand beach near Pensacola, FL Photo courtesy National Park Service

As one of the oldest settled areas of Florida and North America, Pensacola has seen a great deal. The first settlers are reported to have landed here in 1559. Since then, five different national flags have flown here—the Spanish, French, British, Confederate and American. This mixed heritage is represented throughout the city and region. As well, Pensacola is a gateway to the white sand beaches and barrier islands of the Emerald Coast. Near perfect weather has made the area both an ideal U.S. Naval Aviation training area and an ideal vacation destination.

ORIENTATION

Pensacola is located on the north shore of Pensacola Bay, in the far northwest corner of the Florida Panhandle. Approximately 6 mi (10 km) south of the city, the barrier island of Santa Rosa Island lines the Gulf of Mexico.

HISTORY

Throughout Pensacola’s history, it seems as if every colonial nation wanted this area. The city, in all of its early incarnations, changed possession through settlement, treaty and capture, a pawn in numerous political upheavals.

Popular history, while sometimes disputed, claims Pensacola as the first European settlement in North America. Reportedly, Spanish conquistador Don Tristan de Luna y Arellano brought the first settlers of Florida to this area in 1559. Two years after the settlement was established at Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island, it was destroyed by hurricane. The Spanish failed to establish another settlement until over a century later, thus allowing St. Augustine, founded in 1565, to claim the title as the oldest continuous development in the United States.

When the Spanish rediscovered the area in 1686, it was named Panzacola after the Panzacola Indians. By 1698, the Spanish settled and fortified the town, raising the Spanish flag.

In the early 1700s, France and Spain went to war. The French, with settlements in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, and Biloxi, Mississippi, coveted the anchorage near Pensacola. In 1719, a French force attacked the town, taking the Spanish commander by surprise and forcing him to surrender the town. The second flag to fly over Pensacola, that of France, was raised. Later in the year, the Spanish retook Pensacola, replacing the French flag with Spain’s. During the same war, the French and a native force retook the fort, destroying it. When the war ended in 1723, France ceded Pensacola back to Spain. The settlement was rebuilt and destroyed by hurricanes twice between 1723 and 1753, encouraging settlement at a more safe, inland location.

	Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island, FL Photo courtesy National Park Service

Pensacola changed hands again after the Seven Years War (1756-1763) between Spain and Britain, allowing the British flag to fly above the town. Under British rule, Pensacola was made the capital of British West Florida, and was developed with a new town layout. In the 18-year period of British rule, the town developed and grew more than in the 65 years that Spain had control. Ironically, after this development period, the Spanish regained control of Pensacola during the American Revolution Battle of Pensacola in 1781, eventually regaining control of all of Florida at the completion of the revolution.

Between 1814 and 1818, General Andrew Jackson twice entered Pensacola, first to remove the British and then again to stop the Spanish from supplying weapons to the natives during the First Seminole War.

With the sale of Florida to the United States in 1821, Pensacola came under the power of a new entity. The flag of the United States would fly above the city until 1861 when Florida seceded from the Union. The U.S. flag (flag number four) was then replaced by the Confederate flag until the end of the U.S. Civil War.

Once Florida was accepted back into the Union in 1868, Pensacola began to move past its battlefield background and prosper. Building and population booms, the arrival of technologies such as electric light and the telephone, and the development of the lumber and fishing industries meant that the population hit almost 23,000 people by 1910.

In 1914, the first military aviation units arrived in Pensacola starting the Naval Aeronautics Station (NAS), foreshadowing a relationship between the city and the U.S. Military that is still alive today.

Now, Pensacola is still one of the gateways to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and the Emerald Coast. As well, it is a destination in its own right.

Month Average Temperature Average Precipitation Min Max Jan 43°F (6.1°C) 61°F (16.1°C) 122 mm Feb 46°F (7.8°C) 64°F (17.8°C) 127 mm Mar 51°F (10.6°C) 70°F (21.1°C) 150 mm Apr 58°F (14.4°C) 76°F (24.4°C) 104 mm May 66°F (18.9°C) 84°F (28.9°C) 104 mm Jun 72°F (22.2°C) 89°F (31.7°C) 163 mm Jul 74°F (23.3°C) 90°F (32.2°C) 191 mm Aug 74°F (23.3°C) 90°F (32.2°C) 168 mm Sep 70°F (21.1°C) 87°F (30.6°C) 170 mm Oct 60°F (15.6°C) 80°F (26.7°C) 97 mm Nov 50°F (10.0°C) 70°F (21.1°C) 97 mm Dec 45°F (7.2°C) 63°F (17.2°C) 107 mm

Pensacola, FL, Climate Averages

CLIMATE

Adjacent to Pensacola Bay and approximately 6 mi (10 km) from the Gulf of Mexico, Pensacola offers a pleasant climate. Temperatures are tempered by the city’s proximity to the Gulf, with cool gulf breezes refreshing and cooling the area during summer days. In the winter, these breezes help to ward off most of the cold, continental Northers (winds from the north). The temperature during the summer can reach as high as 100 °F (37.8°C).

During the summer, rain usually comes in bursts in the daytime while winter precipitation generally falls for longer periods of time. On rare occasions, Pensacola experiences very light (usually not measurable) snowfall.

From the beginning of July to the middle of October, the Pensacola area has, on occasion, been struck by seriously destructive hurricanes. Hurricanes are a possibility; however, due to their nature, they are recognised days or more before arrival, allowing for the evacuation of endangered areas well in advance.

TRANSPORTATION

Visitors driving to Pensacola can reach the city via a number of highways. Interstate highway 10 enters the city from Mobile, AL, in the east and Tallahassee, FL, in the west. From the north, U.S. Federal Highway 31 from Montgomery, AL, becomes U.S. Federal Highway 29 before the northern Alabama-Florida border, terminating in Pensacola. Driving from Panama City through Destin and Fort Walton Beach along U.S. Federal Highway 98 brings visitors to Pensacola via a southern, Gulf of Mexico-skirting route.

	From Pensacola to... Distance Est. Time* Mobile, AL 58 mi (93 km) 1 hr 5 min Fort Walton Beach, FL 43 mi (69 km) 1 hr 5 min Panama City, FL 105 mi (169 km) 2 hr 15 min Tallahassee, FL 200 mi (322 km) 3 hr 30 min
	Pensacola, FL, Distance Table (*Estimated driving time)

Pensacola Regional Airport serves the area with connecting flights to major centers in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

Amtrak offers regularly scheduled rail service to Pensacola from the rest of Florida and the continental U.S.A.

When in Pensacola, visitors can tour freely in a self-drive vehicle. Car rental agencies are located at the airport and throughout the city.

Public bus and trolley services are supplied by the Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT). Bus service is not available on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Easter Sunday, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. In addition to public transit, visitors to Pensacola can get around the city and area using one of the local taxi operators.

PENSACOLA FEATURED ATTRACTIONS

Historical Attractions
Being one of the longest settled areas in North America, Pensacola has a long and colorful history. Most of the color in this case comes from the different flags that have flown here. To celebrate the founding of the city, the Fiesta of Five Flags is held every June. Events include Mardi Gras celebrations, sand sculpture competitions and numerous small fiestas.

Tours of Historic Pensacola Village leads guests through a collection of ten museums, with both indoor and outdoor exhibits, that explore the over-450 years of the city’s history. Among other museums, see the Museum of Commerce, the Museum of Industry and the TT Wentworth Museum.

Fort Pickens Photo courtesy National Park Service

The early fortifications of Pensacola Bay are also a must-see for history buffs. Constructed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries at the mouth of Pensacola Bay, Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas and the Advanced Redoubt are well-preserved and maintained examples of period fortresses. Guided tours are provided throughout the year, more so during the region’s high season between May and September.

Some other historical attractions include the Pensacola Historical Museum and the Civil War Soldiers Museum.

Natural Attractions
The first explorers to Pensacola wrote that it was the most beautiful area that they had ever seen. They would surely consider it the same today. White beaches and the Gulf of Mexico greet every visitor. Quartz crystal, ground to a fine grain on a journey of hundreds of miles from the Appalachian Mountains, makes the sand brilliant white. Even on the hottest days, the beaches stay cool, making it possible to walk in comfort, enjoying the coastal view.

The beach reaches west from Pensacola Beach, along Santa Rosa Island at the mouth of Pensacola Bay to Navarre. It continues through the Emerald Coast cities of Fort Walton Beach and Destin, eventually reaching Panama City.

	Ship Island Lighthouse, Gulf Islands National Seashore Photo courtesy National Park Service

Stretching 150 mi (245 km) west from the eastern tip of Santa Rosa Island to Cat Island in Misssissippi, the Gulf Islands National Seashore is a preserved, natural coastline. Maintained by the National Park Service, this region offers bountiful wilderness adventures for a variety of individual tastes. Campgrounds, picnic areas and wilderness trails fit for hiking are open to the public. Park permits must be purchased when visiting some areas of this park. The historical attractions of Fort Pickens and Fort Barrancas mentioned above, and others such as Ship Island Lighthouse and Fort Massachusetts, are also located here.

In the region, but a short drive from Pensacola, a number of freshwater springs offers swimming, snorkelling or scuba diving in crystal clear water. A 90-mile (145-kilometre) drive east along U.S. highway 90, a number of these springs are located within Ponce de Leon Springs State Park.

Other Attractions
Since aviation became a part of the United States military, it has been a part of Pensacola. The National Museum of Naval Aviation is home to over 140 aircraft, from World War II, the Korean War and the Gulf War. All have been fully restored and placed on display. Practice sessions of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the Navy flight demonstration squadron, can be watched from the museum.

Pensacola’s Vietnam Veterans Wall South offers a replica of the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, DC. Located within Veterans Memorial Park, the wall is a half-size replica of the original memorial.